Owner of Norristown's Tyson Shirt Factory Lofts turns himself in for safety violations

Thomas Ives, owner of the Tyson Shirt Factory Lofts on Corson Street in Norristown, is escorted to district court Friday afternoon after turning himself in for a litany on non-traffic citations stemming from unpaid tickets for various safety violations violations on his property. Photo by Jenny DeHuff/Times Herald Staff.

NORRISTOWN — Thomas Ives, owner of the Tyson Shirt Factory Lofts on Corson Street, turned himself in Friday afternoon on warrants for his arrest for thousands of dollars of outstanding citations for safety violations on his rental property.

Arraigned before Magisterial District Justice Francis Lawrence, as of 2 p.m. Friday, Ives was working on getting $4,000 of the more than $6,000 he owes to the municipality in fines and non-traffic citations for a number of safety hazards at the lofts.

Since August 2008, Ives has been cited for several violations of the Norristown building code, the latest dated Jan. 14 of this year.

According to court documents, Ives was cited three times on Aug. 11, 2008 for failure to obtain a use and occupancy certificate before the Tyson Shirt Factory Lofts were occupied. On July 12, 2012, Ives was cited for failing to repair an elevator after already having been issued a citation. On Sept. 9, 2012, Ives was cited for failure to have trash containers emptied on a regular basis.

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Two days later, he was cited for failing to make payments for rental fees as agreed upon with the municipality for 31 units in the building, totaling $6,045, as well as for failure to maintain the fire alarm and sprinkler systems within a multifamily dwelling.

The latest citation came Jan. 14, when Ives was cited for failure to obtain a rental license in accordance with the municipal ordinance. He reportedly failed to have this documentation from 2009 through the present.

The Tyson Shirt Factory Lofts have a 22 percent approval rating according to www.apartmentratings.com, with some reviewers referring to him as a “slum lord.”